Monday, April 30, 2012

After about three days of trying for flowers, I decided to go back to some more familiar subjects and feel satisfied with something. I'll shoot for flowers again sometime--I really need the practice.

I decided to send two of my paintings to the Circle of Art charitable organization in Saline, Michigan. 'Apples to Apples' (which I renamed 'Apple Variations') and 'Tea Party' will be on display at Saline Picture Frame Co. and online throughout the month of May, and will be auctioned on May 20th. All proceeds will go to Food Gatherers of Washtenaw County. Here's the link: http://www.circle-of-art.net My artwork is not up yet but will be up in the next few days. You can check out all the other art in the meantime.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Second painting from the bouquet. Thought it might be easier to get the rose on it's side. And for some reason I just like the tea cup--I think I'm still trying to get the whites (grays) down. I got a little tighter with this one--worked it a bit more. Probably because I watched Abby Ryan's online painting demo yesterday. Her silver creamer was just gorgeous... wow!

Friday, April 27, 2012

Not so great day yesterday—I painted for about three hours and nothing was working. So I treated myself to a big bouquet of flowers today, and painted part of it. This one worked better. Daisies are pretty forgiving. I'm hoping to get a couple more paintings out of the bouquet before it wilts :)

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Well I had to delete my last post--I thought I could improve on the Red Grapes painting, and I made it even worse :( But at least I have a new one that I'm pretty happy with, after a couple of days of not being able to paint due to volunteer activities. When I volunteer for different things down-the-road, they always seem to happen all at the same time for some reason--Murphy's Law or something.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

The second of our wine bottles. I liked how the first came out so I thought I'd do another one. This one came out much sketchier, and I wasn't going to even post it, but I'll see what kind of feedback I get.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Well I'm branching out to new dimensions: 6 x 8. I've tried a few others at this size and they just didn't work out—it's more of a challenge for me because I'm so used to the square format. I think this composition works. Unfortunately the photo is a tiny bit washed out in the upper left—it's hard to get a good photo when the paint is still wet.

This painting is now part of the fundraiser "Circle of Art" to benefit Food Gatherers of Washtenaw County. It will be on display at Saline Picture Frame Company until May 20th when all art will be auctioned. All proceeds will go to the charity. The link to view and bid: http://www.circle-of-art.net/

Thursday, April 19, 2012

This is one of our three cats. I plan to do the other two so they don't get jealous. Although, all three are female, and you know, there's no getting rid of the jealousy. At least that's what I've found--the males are more easy going generally? We actually wanted a boy kitten from the start. Bo, we were told was a male, but the vet corrected us on that small detail, so she became Bonita. Belleza... same thing, we just hadn't named her yet. And Zora, she was too beautious to pass up :) But no more animals for a while...

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

This is one of about six bottles of wine we have at our house, that we've had for many years. We're not really wine drinkers, but we keep these bottles around because........ ?? I think it's because we have a cool wine rack, and we have to have something to put in it. Well now I've found a better reason: I can use them as props for my still life paintings :)

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

It really was a gray day when I did this painting-- a good day to stay in my studio and paint, and drink tea. I think I was able to loosen up again after the apple challenge exercise. A really good exercise to do periodically to stay loose.

Monday, April 16, 2012

This painting, done just the other day, was done for the Daily Paint Works challenge. The challenge was posted about three weeks ago, but I liked the idea of it: the 'Pare down your Apple' challenge, meaning paint an apple with as few areas of color as possible while still having it read as a three-dimensional apple. Because I happened to have three different kinds of apples in the kitchen, I decided to do all three.

This painting (now named 'Apple Variations') is now part of the fundraiser "Circle of Art" to benefit Food Gatherers of Washtenaw County. It will be on display at Saline Picture Frame Company until May 20th when all art will be auctioned. All proceeds will go to the charity. The link to view and bid: http://www.circle-of-art.net/

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Here is the other Chicadee piece I promised I would post. I love the black and white patterns on these little birds, and could do a whole series of them. I sold this to a friend of mine who is decorating her brand new home, just built after her old home burned down. We went over there last week to see it for the first time, and she has an impressive collection of art already. Wow, I feel honored to have my work amongst some really beautiful pieces by Heiner Hertling, Mike Todoroff, and of course my friend Janice Dumas herself!!

Friday, April 13, 2012

I've been noticing that even though my finished paintings are coming out ok, I sometimes go through a mid-painting crisis, and I think I have another 'practice' painting. But hanging-in-there has been a good thing. I just have to remember... patience and persistence... patience and persistence...

Thursday, April 12, 2012

This painting reminds me of a picnic table, and makes me want to go on a picnic... in warm weather... by the lake... with family and friends. Even though we've had an extremely mild winter here in Michigan this year, I am still impatient when it comes to cold weather moving out and warm weather moving in. But I remind myself... cold weather makes us appreciate warm weather SO much more :)) I'm hungry...

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

This pitcher was a gift from a friend a few years ago and has been sitting on the top shelf in my kitchen ever since. I haven't used it nearly as much as I should, but now that I've got it down, maybe I'll make more lemonade :)

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

My husband brought home a whole set of these brown dishes from our neighbor when he was getting new dishes. At the time I wasn't all that amused, and wasn't sure where we were going to put them, but now I'm glad he did—I've used them twice in paintings (second one to come). I really like how reflective they are, and how it adds to the interest of the painting. I'm sure I'll use them again.

Monday, April 9, 2012

The creamer is from my mom--I got it out of storage and it was a little tarnished, but I was lazy and painted it without polishing it first anyway. That painting didn't make the cut. So I polished the creamer, painted it again and it made a huge difference.

Friday, April 6, 2012

I've been working on a mixed media series—mostly birds—for quite some time now. I thought I'd post one of the smaller pieces. I use charcoal, gesso, oil glaze and sometimes pastel for accent color. I liked how this one came out so I did a larger version with two chicadees, which I will post soon.

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About Me

I received a BA in illustration at Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, then went on to work as an illustrator, graphic artist and art director.
After 20+ years in the commercial art field (and a brief relapse into full-time work), I decided to quit my job to go back to the more fulfilling field of fine art. I paint with a weekly figure painting group and try to paint on a daily basis.
I live in Southeast Michigan with my husband and three cats.